aha, the sun!

Yes, we found the sunshine!  You gotta love sunshine, blue water and white sand, don't you?

The second week of our stay on Santa Rosa Island, Fort Pickens campground was beautiful.

Any guesses on what this is,,,?  We will give you the answer at the bottom of this post..

 Fort Pickens is a National Park, part of the Gulf Island National Seashore.  On the property includes the remains of the original fort and additions that were made for protection of the gulf coast.  Including Battery Langdon, which you can barely see Roger standing on top of below.

 A very large gun was mounted on top of this battery.

Here we are standing on top of it.

 Our campground was surrounded by trees like these and several osprey nests.  Several had chicks.

 Before Kennen and Terri left we had to have one last fabulous meal at Peg Leg Pete's, which is in Pensacola Beach.

 Entrance to the Fort Pickens  completed 1834

Anyone know what lives in here?

Yep, this guy

 Not this guy, he just likes to walk in the sand, not dig in it.

 Who can resist a footprint picture, even if it is a shore bird foot..

Rog had plenty of time to test the waters.  Score was, well Rog lost...

If you look real close you might spy the moon, directly above Anita's shadow.

The Blue Angels practiced right over the west end of the island

This little girl was trying to get the best shot of them.

Rog balancing on top of one of the remaining battery structures,  It was very windy that particular day. 

Anita trying to take his picture

One day we drove over the 5 mile bridge back to the mainland and had lunch at McGuire's Irish Pub

This just might be the best picture of the whole trip,,,don't you think?  This is a liverwurst sandwich, no he didn't eat the whole thing, at one time .

The ceiling was covered in $1 bills, over a million of them covered the ceiling

Back to the fort, there is a wall that surrounds the western most side of the island, we walked it one day, just enjoying the views and the sunshine.

Rog had me locked up,,,,well not really

Then, he threw me in the dungeon,,,actually this was storage area for all the electric mines and shells that were used in the 1930's and 1940's.

 Exterior of the fort.  There are over 21.5 million hand cut bricks in this fort.

Part of the fort was built in the 1800's the remainder was refortified in the 1930's, hence this modern gun nicknamed "The Disappearing Gun" because when it was fired, the recoil caused it to fall back into this position for reloading.  The shell weighed 300 lbs.

 Here are a few pictures from the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola

Back end of an F14 Tomcat

It was a wonderful three weeks, we are home now and getting ready for Rhonda and Ivan to join us from Oregon!  We leave you with this last shot.  If you ever get the chance check out the Florida Gulf coast.  Whether you want the beach scene, including the condos, shopping, restaurants or just want to enjoy the serenity of nature, it has it all.

Our next adventure leads us to Savannah, Georgia in September.
If you are still wondering about the picture question, it is a jelly fish.
Until next time, take care everyone!